One Thing
by Kosetsuno Tenshi
Summary: What if one thing was different on the day the Pevensie's went hunting for the White Stag? Based on the movie and the book, LWW, this oneshot answers that question.
1. Chapter 1

_Said Queen Lucy, "for it will not go out of my mind that if we pass this post and lantern either we shall find strange adventures or else some great change in our fortunes."_

"_Madam," Said King Edmund, "the like foreboding stirreth in my heart also." _

"_And in mine, fair brother," Said King Peter._

"_And in mine too," said Queen Susan. "Wherefore by my counsel we shall lightly return to our horses and follow this White Stag no further."_

_The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, pg. 186. _

What if one thing had been different that fateful day in Narnia? The following are different scenarios of what might have been.

* * *

If Queen Lucy had not gone:

"You are sure you will not join us, dear sister?" Peter asked.

"Nay, Peter. One of us should remain here and perform our royal duties. As well it is my tea day with Tumnus, if you will recall." Queen Lucy replied. She was the youngest of the monarchs in charge of the land of Narnia.

The four were brothers and sisters and had ruled Narnia for twelve years, most of which were peaceful and the period was already gaining the name of the Golden Age of Narnia. Never before had Narnia been more peaceful or more prosperous than when the four Pevensie children were in charge.

The other day Lucy's best friend, the faun Tumnus, had reported to them that the White Stag had been spotted in the Western Woods. This was the stag that if caught, would grant wishes and so the royal siblings had decided to hunt the stag. Lucy had opted to remain behind.

After the other siblings left on the hunt, Lucy went to the Hall of Justice where she presided over a few small disputes between some of her subjects. The matter of presiding over disputes was minor compared to other requirements of her duties and she loved sharing this with her brother Edmund. But since he was not available, she had to preside alone, but her verdicts were wise and just and her subjects left happy.

Then she went and found Mr. Tumnus in the kitchen.

"Hullo, Mr. Tumnus."

"Good morning my dear Lucy. If you do not mind my asking, why did you not go with the others on the hunt for the stag?"

"I did not want to miss tea with you. I have had to postpone it often enough due to duties and I could not bear the thought of having to postpone again because of a hunt. You are more important to me than catching a stag." Lucy replied.

"You do not want your wishes granted?"

"I believe that between Aslan, my brothers, my sister, and I that any wish I have will be granted. Besides I want for nothing. I have a wonderful family and friends, I eat well, and there are no princes asking for my hand in marriage, so I can be content for a day."

The magic did not work with one sister missing. They had found the back of the wardrobe but were not able to get further than the coats. The door was jammed. With a disappointed sigh at the loss of an adventure, Peter, Susan, and Edmund turned back to their horses and began the trek back to the castle. In a few days the mysterious lantern and the coats were all but forgotten as they continued their royal duties.

Susan eventually married a duke of Galma, but after a few years, the duke found out that Susan was barren. They would not be having any children. Peter claimed he would never marry for he was married to Narnia. Edmund married a princess of Terebinthia, and it would be their children, Peter declared, who would take the throne of Narnia after the siblings were gone, if Aslan was kind enough to grant Edmund and Serena children. Serena never conceived a child. Lucy, bright and smiling, never married. She remained good friends with Tumnus and Prince Corin (whom it was widely rumored she would marry, though it never was confirmed). None of the siblings left any heirs to the throne.

The four royal monarchs died in Narnia. Their bodies were buried in each of their favorite places, respectively, each looking towards their direction as stated by Aslan at their coronation. In England, the Professor was quite at a loss to explain the loss of the children to their parents when the war was over. Soon after, his fortune vanished and he had to sell his house and burn down (to his dismay) the wardrobe.

Fifty years later the first Caspian appeared from Telmar and conquered Narnia. He drove the Talking Animals and the few remaining humans in the land into hiding and declared himself King of Narnia.


	2. Chapter 2

_Said Queen Lucy, "for it will not go out of my mind that if we pass this post and lantern either we shall find strange adventures or else some great change in our fortunes."_

"_Madam," Said King Edmund, "the like foreboding stirreth in my heart also." _

"_And in mine, fair brother," Said King Peter._

"_And in mine too," said Queen Susan. "Wherefore by my counsel we shall lightly return to our horses and follow this White Stag no further."_

_The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, pg. 186.

* * *

_

What if they had taken Susan's advice and not gone further?

"Madam, I agree with you. While we have never before backed down from an adventure, the way this lantern works on my mind disturbs me. I believe, my fair consorts, that we should head back to our horses and our courtiers, and return to our home without this stag. The sooner away from this lantern the better, I feel." King Edmund said.

Edmund was known for thinking carefully before heading into action. Even his most spontaneous actions had been thought through very carefully. The fact that he was now refusing an adventure (when he was usually one of the first to find evidence to support an adventure) surprised the others. They pondered his words and found them wise.

"Then let it be as my royal brother has said. We shall hunt the White Stag no more today." King Peter declared.

They returned to their horses and returned to their court in a more somber mood than when they had left them. The members of the court who had gone hunting with them tried to figure out what had worked upon their majesties so, but the royal siblings revealed nothing.

The first days back from the hunt were the hardest for the Pevensie kings and queens. The lamppost had worked upon their mind and they were sorely tempted to return to it and see what adventure lay beyond it. Edmund began trying to find out why a lantern had been planted in Narnia. He researched the earliest histories until he reached the story of the creation of Narnia. There he read that a witch, Jadis (oh how he shivered at that name), had been present at the birth of Narnia. Several strangers from another world had been there and Jadis had tried to kill one of them with a bar of iron.

It missed the humans and planted itself in the ground and there grew into a tree of iron. Edmund considered his searching done, though he marveled that such a thing could exist, such as another world. He had never heard of it in his time in Narnia. He knew that he had not been born in Narnia and that when he first arrived, adventures had befallen him and his siblings, but he could not remember where they had come from. It was all a blank. He decided not to think upon to much, lest it drive him mad.

Historians now consider the years the siblings ruled Narnia as a Golden Era in the age of Narnia. Even when they were separated by marriage, Narnia never forgot it had four rulers and each family member was consulted for the larger decisions concerning Narnia.

Peter the Magnificent never married. He claimed Narnia as his first and only love. All the princesses in the world were disappointed that he would not marry. He claimed that when one of his siblings had a child, be it a Son of Adam or a Daughter of Eve, then that would be the heir to the Narnian thrones.

Susan the Gentle married a prince of Terebinthia and he came to Narnia to help govern Narnia, since Susan claimed she could never leave her homeland. They had two sons and three daughters. All the children made the land smile and laugh and love the children dearly. The eldest, David, would eventually inherit Peter's throne.

Edmund the Just married a duchess of Galma. He moved to Galma, though he visited his royal siblings often and they would visit him and his wife often. He gave birth to a daughter and a son. The daughter soon grew up to marry the son of King Cor and Queen Aravis and became Queen of Archenland. The son grew up to be the Duke of Galma under the protection of his royal cousin, King David of Narnia.

Lucy the Valiant never married. Her constant companion in life was the Faun Tumnus. None of her suitors could compete with their friendship and soon stopped trying to court the youngest queen of Narnia. She like Peter claimed that no man could have her heart since she was so in love with Narnia and her hand was always being held by Tumnus. It soon became a joke in Narnia which would turn into a saying.

When the royal siblings died, they were each buried in Narnia, together, in a garden at Cair Paravel. They reappeared in England at the Professor's house by the grace of Aslan and never told anyone of their adventures, though there was something in their manner and in their eyes that caused everyone to look at them twice.

When Caspian the First led his people from Telmar and into Narnia, he found it harder to conquer, but he killed the aging King David and his heir, and drove the people loyal to the King into hiding and exile. The talking animals soon vanished and Narnia became a land of people haunted by stories of animals that talked and walked like men and of phantoms in the woods. They refused to live in Cair Paravel, saying that a lion guarded the thrones and treasures there. The royal siblings returned to Narnia to help Prince Caspian the tenth ascend his rightful throne.


End file.
